They have spoken falsely of the Lord and have said, ‘He will do nothing; no disaster will come upon us’ . . . Jeremiah 5:12 None of us starts out searching for the painful consequences that follow our destructive addictions to drugs, porn, food, anger, or money. In the beginning, we indulge just a little, knowing…
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Return, faithless Israel, declares the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the Lord; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the Lord your God . . . Jeremiah 3:12-13 I can’t read today’s passage without remembering my own childhood experience…
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You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? declares the Lord. Jeremiah 3:1 As a Christian and physician, I feel that I should speak the truth in love, always being professional and kind. There are times though that loving, kind words just don’t get through. In my addiction, polite did…
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For long ago I broke your yoke and burst your bonds; but you said, I will not serve. Jeremiah 2:20 Nearly 20 years ago, though I didn’t feel sick, I was diagnosed with an illness, which if left untreated, would have taken my life. The treatment was fairly simple – a surgeon removed my thyroid…
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For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. Jeremiah 2:13 It is not uncommon to meet a suffering patient, who wants to feel better, while hanging on to that which is making him sick. The…
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Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” Jeremiah 1:6 I’d like to think that if God showed up and commanded me to do something, that I would do it, no matter how crazy it seemed. It’s God, so I’d obey no matter what,…
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We are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8 Have you ever believed a thing to be true and then acted in a manner completely inconsistent with that belief? There are those for whom right belief just naturally leads to right behavior. I don’t understand…
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We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. Isaiah 64:6 As I ran a race with thousands of others last weekend, I found myself people watching . . . and comparing. One of the worst parts of running a race is being beaten by those…
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Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you . . . for in my wrath I struck you, but in my favor I have had mercy on you. Isaiah 60:1,10 Yesterday at 9:45AM, I ran under the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis while running the Twin Cities Marathon…
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Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. Isaiah 59:2 I occasionally meet those who believe that, because we are forgiven in Christ, God cannot see our sin. Based on passages that say, I will remember their sin…
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